Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
P
Ertel potential vorticity; available potential energy (Section 8.3); precip-
itation rate (Section 11.3)
Q
Q vector
R
Gas constant for dry air; distance from the axis of rotation of the earth to a
point on the surface of the earth (Section 1.5); diabatic energy generation
rate (Section 10.4)
R
Vector in the equatorial plane directed from the axis of rotation to a point
on the surface of the earth
R
∗
Universal gas constant
S
p
≡−
T∂ln θ/∂p, stability parameter in pressure coordinates
T
Temperature
U
Horizontal velocity scale
V
Speed in natural coordinates
δV
Volume increment
U
Three-dimensional velocity vector
V
Horizontal velocity vector
W
Vertical motion scale
X
Zonal turbulent drag force
Z
Geopotential height
α
Specific volume
β
≡
df/dy, variation of the Coriolis parameter with latitude;
angular direction of the wind (Section 3.3)
γ
≡
c
p
/c
v
, the ratio of specific heats
ε
Rate of frictional energy dissipation; thermal expansion coefficient of
water (Section 10.7)
ζ
Vertical component of relative vorticity
η
Vertical component of absolute vorticity; weighting function for heating
profile (Section 11.3)
θ
Potential temperature
θ
≡
Dθ/Dt , vertical motion in isentropic coordinates
